The most significant election news on November 6 happened in Multnomah County, Portland, OR. After a nearly 30-year struggle, the voters in Multnomah County decided by an overwhelming margin to create a permanent library district starting July 1, 2013.

I know library budget news can sometimes make eyes glaze; it often seems like the same story in a different place with different (shrinking) numbers.

Voters in Multnomah County, OR, will consider a proposal to form a permanent library district this fall. The Multnomah County Library has been struggling financially because of the impact of a local property tax cap and lower contributions from the county’s general fund. The library is the largest in Oregon and it serves over 35,000 people […]

Voters overwhelmingly approved a renewed levy for Oregon’s Multnomah County Library on May 15. Support for the measure ran a whopping 82 to 18 percent, according to The Oregonian. “We didn’t expect this kind of a margin,” The Portland Tribune quoted Brian Wilson, chairman of the Libraries Yes Campaign, as saying. “We thought it would […]